Analysis of We Are Coming, Sister Mary
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
On a stormy night in winter,
When the winds blew cold and wet,
I heard some strains of music
That I never can forget.
I was sleeping in the cabin,
Where liv'd Mary fair and young,
When a light shone in the window,
And a band of singers sung.
We are coming sister Mary,
We are coming bye and bye,
Be ready sister Mary,
For the time is drawing nigh.
I tried to tell my Mary,
But my tongue would not obey,
When the song so strange had ended,
And the singers flown away,
As I watch'd I heard a rustling,
Like the rustling of a wing,
And beside my Mary's pillow
Very soon I heard them sing.
Then again I called my Mary,
But my sorrow was complete
For I found her heart of kindness
Had forever ceas'd to beat
And I still am very lonely
From summer round to spring
And I oft in midnight slumber
Think I hear the same ones sing.
Scheme | ABXBXCDC EFEF EGXGHHDH EIXIEHAH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10101010 1011101 1111110 1110101 11100010 1110101 10110010 0011101 11101010 1110101 1101010 1011101 1111110 1111101 10111110 0010101 11111010 1010101 00111010 1011111 10111110 1110101 11101110 1010111 01111010 110111 0110110 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 801 |
Words | 167 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 4, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 158 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 32 Views
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"We Are Coming, Sister Mary" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17314/we-are-coming%2C-sister-mary>.
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